British actress Susan Sarandon says Hollywood’s problems can be attributed to it becoming a huge business. The actress was recently speaking at a panel discussion at Tropfest Short Film Festival in Parramatta, Australia. According to her, all of Hollywood's problems, include sexism and racism as well.

Sarandon is serving as the head juror at the gala and credited Hollywood’s increasing dependence on reboots to a “lack of imagination”, which she said feeds a larger problem of discrimination, along with the “corporate takeover of making films”.

“This is why we have so much sexism and racism and ageism in Hollywood,” she said, adding, “There’s a lot of businessmen that are making decisions, not people who necessarily love movies. This is where you get casting by how many followers you have on Instagram.”

She also praised small festivals and young filmmakers as “where our hope lies”, later making special mention of Xavier Dolan, who directed her on the forthcoming The Death and Life of John F. Donovan, and Greta Gerwig.

Sarandon is an American actress and activist. She is an Academy Award and BAFTA Award winner who is also known for her social and political activism for a variety of causes. She was appointed a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in 1999 and received the Action against Hunger Humanitarian Award in 2006.

She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for Atlantic City (1980), Thelma & Louise (1991), Lorenzo's Oil (1992), and The Client (1994), before winning for Dead Man Walking (1995). She has also won the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for The Client, and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actress for Dead Man Walking. Her other films include: Pretty Baby (1978), The Hunger (1983), The Witches of Eastwick (1987), Bull Durham (1988), White Palace (1990), Little Women (1994), Stepmom (1998), Enchanted (2007), The Lovely Bones (2009), Tammy (2014), and The Meddler (2015).